While walking through my yard last week, I came across some new plants blossoming. I recognized familiar flowers that are starting to come to life as they do every year.

However, I wasn't able to identify this one plant. At first, I couldn't tell if it was poison ivy or something that I shouldn't bother with. As I noticed, there were about 20 more of them throughout my walk, I couldn't believe my eyes.

This Hudson Valley plant has been unidentifiable.

This is the first time that I have noticed them and was wondering why this weed or plant was so popular this year.

Without any answers, I reached out to the Hudson Valley community and some folks thought that this mysterious plant could be a maple seedling while another person guessed it was from the Dicot family.

Hudson Valley residents made suggestions of what this plant could be.

However, it was time that I took this matter into my own hands and used this helpful app.

Recently, I came across an app to help identify birds and their call, which has been something I have used everyday. I love birdwatching.

What is this plant identifying app?

Allison Kay
Allison Kay
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This app is called Seek by iNaturalist

By taking a picture of a plant, Seek helps identify what the result could be. This is a fun app to identify plants or even animals around you ( I tried it on my cat and it came up as a Domestic Cat, haha).

Throughout Seek, you can also earn badges for different varieties of plants and animals.

Next time that you're outside, be sure to bring your phone and app with you. Between Seek and Merlin ID, I spend time recording bird noises and taking pictures of plants to learn more about mother nature.

How does this app work?

Allison Kay
Allison Kay
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Seek pulls up a list of birds, plants and animals that are in its database. Once your app is downloaded, you can scan the environment around you with the Seek camera.

This makes exploring even more fun because now you might be able to detect what's around you and show to others.

Who can use this plant identifying app, Seek?

Seek is a kid safe app, you have to be over the age of 13 or have parents permission to use the app. Otherwise, this would be fun for a hiking day with friends, a picnic date in the park or woods or with your family during an outdoor party.

This app was created by the iNaturalist team who's a part of the California Academy of Sciences and also, the National Geographic Society.

Here's what I found while using this app.

Allison Kay
Allison Kay
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Allison Kay
Allison Kay
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What do you think of this app? Will you use it on your next adventure? Share with us below.

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